I almost gave up on reading Mental Damnation: Dream because, not having read any of the series, I found the Introduction and Prologue far too long and wordy. Not until I was half way through chapter one did the story pick up enough to capture my interest. There is the usual problem, therefore, of not capturing the reader’s attention with the first few sentences of the book and them not persisting with it, which in this case would be a big loss! The tale of Krista and her disturbing dreams, Dreadweave Pass and the evil Weaver are all well worth the effort of continuing with the rest of Konn Lavery’s intriguing and highly original novel.

While I cannot say that this could be considered to be a stand-alone novel, I doubt I will be seeking out more books in the series – not being a fan of the fantasy genre – but I can imagine many more readers of such a tale wanting to devour the other books by this author. Lavery writes an extremely good book: captivating, highly descriptive, emotional and hauntingly poignant. Not only is the narrative wonderful and the dialogue natural but we are also entertained by a delightful scattering of beautiful illustrations.

Well worth pursuing past the rather slow start to the book if you enjoy scary fantasy with a touch of page-turning mystery.